Lore/Story The Wall: From Auta To Korich

Heya kids,

Buckle up, this is going to be a long one. Recently, I got to revisit my old school... where I stumbled upon a story of mine that I wrote a very long time ago, about three-ish years ago. That story was called The Wall, and was set in the world of the Wall - a present haunted by its largely forgotten past, all encompassed by the Wall - a monolithic landmark that surrounds the world, boxing it in, impossible to scale, destroy, or climb - gone in the southwestern ocean, replaced with the mysterious dathuz, a mist of illusions and magic. I'm slowly going to be rewriting it (at least, thats the hope). I'm still looking for the map I made. Let's start with an introduction of the locations and regions.

(When using 'the Wall', I refer to the world as a whole)


Southwest Plains and Ocean:
The southwest plains are a rather boring area, full of grassy meadows, but their watery counterparts are essential to the economy of the Wall. The ocean is more or less a giant lake, cut off by the Dathuz in some places, and the Wall in others. It is fed into by the lake of Worlds through a number of rivers. Its main city is Ryn, situated in between the ocean and the Kes river, which flows in from the Lake of Worlds in the center of the Wall. The vast majority of the port city of Ryn is on the water, connected by rope bridges.

Eastern Mountains:
The Eastern Mountains cover nearly everything to the east of the Lake and Tree of Worlds. It is home to three major cities, and an additional site of importance. The three major cities are Alkoreai, Auta, and New Hagactyns, and its site of importance is Old Hagactyn ("Wait... two Hagactyns? It'll be explained later). Alkoreai and Auta are both parts of greater Wynfrith's Reach (Elven territory, elves are often referred to as the Wynfrith, the name of one of their greatest monarchs). Auta is a large state, covering vast regions of the southeastern corner of the Wall, and is connected by windy, mountainous roads. It's "flatter" areas are steppe plains, wherein crops are often grown - it is often thought of as the Wynfrith heartland. Alkoreai is a quasi-autonomous buffer state to Auta, but remains under heavy cultural, political, and economic influence from its sister state. To the north is New Hagactyn - a proud city on one mountain. Peoples of all cultures and both races (human and wynfrith) live there in unison - more or less everyone lives on the cliffs, with a lot of transport done on tight ledges or even ziplines. It used to be an almost entirely religious site, but after the Hagactyn massacre forty-five years ago, the residents of Old Hagactyn moved there after the vast majority of Old Hagactyn was rendered uninhabitable. Because of its nature as a religious site, it is not an uncommon site to people living in hollowed-out temples. Space is tight, but culture is rich. Old Hagactyn was the site of the second greatest massacre in (greatest in the known) history of the Wall. Together, both mountains (Old and New Hagactyn) were the wonders of the Wall, and referred to collectively as the Twin Hagactyns. Old Hagactyn as a mountain was taller, but the entire top half was sheared off in a large explosion forty-five years ago, rendering it now significantly shorter than New Hagactyn. It is home to a mysterious [REDACTED] [REDACTED] that was reportedly uncovered during the [REDACTED] but seems to have [REDACTED] enigmatically, somehow the populous remain very unaware of this potentially [REDACTED] incident. Wynfrith's Reach is protected equally by its geography, its isolation, and the elven-made barriers that ward off the outside world. If the Wall was doomed, and Oore to lay waste on all civilization, almost no place would be safer than Auta.

The Lake and Tree of Worlds:
The Lake and Tree of Worlds are located in the center of the Wall. The Lake of Worlds feeds into the ocean, and at the center is the Tree of Worlds. They're known for having some... strange effects on spatial dimensions and distance, and portals are not occasional visitors to the condition of this place - they are the condition of this place.. They're intensely volatile, and have been sparsely studied - most researchers go insane, or fall into other realms impossible to escape from. The Tree of Worlds has been hollowed out, and is home to a host of bizarre, engineered creatures created by the deity Oore, who founded the Gray Kingdom within the Tree. Its borders do not expand beyond the Lake and Tree of Worlds.

The Pit:
The Pit is aptly named the Pit - it is a giant pit. It was once a place with light auras so potent it could rival Auta - which lead to its religious significance - it's filled with churches and temples. It was previously an entirely normal forest, but a little more than forty-five years ago, in the lead up to the destruction of Old Hagactyn, the entire forest collapsed under unknown circumstances. It's more or less a large crater in the northwest, dotted with geothermal vents, twisted flora, eery fauna, and dotted with cemeteries and broken down, ruined religious monuments - the perfect spot for a cheery vacation! Its population is practically zero, as there's no area inhabitable for people not extremely skilled in magical arts. There are no people, no government, little wildlife, and harsh terrain as your defense -- if someone wanted to hide there, or create a new power far from outside eyes, the Pit would be the place. Its main site of importance is the vanished city of Korich. It was the site of the largest cemetery in the Wall - the light energies of the place washed out the sinister auras of the dead. During the destruction of what is now the Pit, many of these bodies were unearthed. Unlucky explorers know they've reached Korich when the plants around them are carnivorous, the land is scorched and unstable, and the graves around them are open - with mountains of skeletons adorning the ruined buildings.

Asygarth and the Wind Islands:
Asygarth lays just to the west of the Eastern Mountains and right below the Lake and Tree of Worlds are the Wind Islands. The Asygarth region was once merely rocky plains filled with minerals - the invention of magic-based mining long ago shaped this region into the Wind Islands. This mining technology used magic to amplify wind to use wind erosion to expose minerals and ores, then suck them back up. Now, vast cities are built on the islands that stretch up from the seemingly endlessly deep canyons. Sheer, white, rocky cliffs stretch up from the pits of fog and dust, from which the large city of Asygarth is built - a wondrous testament to the ingenuity of humans and the understanding of magical engineering on the part of the wynfrith, built of vast metal structures and glistening sheets of mineral glass. The other notable location in the Wind Islands is Roselake, situated at the triangulation of Ryn, Asygarth, and the Lake and Tree of Worlds.

And after a brief tour of the entire world, let's begin with the prologue.

Spoiler: Prologue

Forty-five years ago, modern history began. Hagactyn was having a cool summer night. With windows open, fresh, evening, mountain air poured into homes. Moonlight streamed into the homes built into the side of the mount Hagactyn cliffs. Children slept soundly. A looming thud interrupted this calm peace. Some grim fate about to befall unsuspecting victims. Some dark omen rose to cover the moon. Where Hagactyn was bathed in moonlight, the bright cliffs came dark. This dark omen assumed the shape of a human - a silhouette masking the brightness of the illuminating moon. He flew down to the windy mountain streets, and assumed his default form - tall, fit, tan, dark hair. He pulled from some desperate corner of his pocket a rune - Ithos, direction. It aligned itself downwards. ‘Damn it, wrong level’, he muttered to himself through his gritted teeth. The easiest way down was made out to be a short tumble down a bare cliff. So that was the way he took - he held back his hair as he jumped the about five meters to the next city district down. He landed perfectly - no injury, no sound. And there it was - heavily guarded, the vault of Hagactyn wherein the greatest treasures, weapons, artifacts, and knowledge of the world was stored. Few mysteries remained unraveled after time in the vault. He knew what he was there for - nothing else mattered in that vault. The key to power itself - power incarnate lay within. It was left behind by the Ancients, who vanished thousands of years ago - at the dawn of recorded history - it was feared by all, known to few, and revered by many. It was known as the Hagactyn Device - exactly what it did, people didn’t know, but they were nonetheless scared of it. The people guarding the vault - and the people who put it there - likely had no idea what it could do, and they - nor anyone else - wanted to find out.

The omen - man - had been waiting for so long - dream after dream, night after night, wherein he cracked that vault door like an egg - to break in. When the moment came, he did not falter. He pulled from nowhere a mace, and using his raw power, pulled the first guard towards him and off her feet whilst throwing his mace at her - hitting her squarely in the face. She crumpled and fell to the ground, her face no deformed. He turned to the second guard and transformed his mace into a javelin, hitting the next guard in his heart. As the tip of the blade punctured the guard’s flesh, it let out a soft squishing sound. He waited for the signal from the rest of his Order as guard after guard attacked him and guard after guard died - and it came. The top quarter of the mountain was vindicated in purifying fire, and the large chunk of stone at the tip of the mountain was launched into the stratosphere. Howling winds hailed down upon the mountain-encircling city and thick plumes of ash choked the mountain. Smoke covered the night sky in clouds so potent it blacked out the moon and stars. Then audible chaos ensues. Families and children yelling and screaming. The boom of the explosion above. Now was the time.

He pulled off the cover of the vault, pushing it off the cliff. Sparks flew as it flew off its hinges and its metal sheets came undone. It tumbled down the mountainside, clanging and ringing as it fell down. The vault was surprisingly small. It did indeed hold the mythical Hagactyn Device within - on a small marble pedestal. It was rather nondescript - a glass box with gears inside, gathering dust. On top was a large, red gem with a keyhole in it.

“GOD DAMN IT. IT NEEDS A DAMNED KEY.” he shouted. Many would assume limits to the depth of one's rage, but there were none to his. Decades of research and he needed to find a damned KEY? For the most POWERFUL object known to both man- and wynfrith-kind? That he had FINALLY procured? Disgusting. Disgraceful. Intolerable. It just wouldn’t do. His anger was immeasurable, and his displeasure was large enough to swallow the world and the Wall that encompassed it. He figured he may as well take what he had - he laid his hands on the powerful, humming object… and found himself immediately repelled with intense force. He was thrown out of the vault by this pettily small device. He lay, groaning on the cold stone as rain poured down and noxious smoke choked the air around him. He slowly got up, his vision hazy - and was hit by a bolt of bright, white, iron lightning that sent him flying off of the mountainside. The device whirred, the gears turned, and something within it hummed, and it brought the remaining top half of the mountain down. Fleets of boulders came crashing down, pulverizing themselves in collision after collision as they fled down the mountain in the stormy night. Lightning crackled, and people screamed, and tree uprooted after tree uprooted. Fires defied the rain and pressed forward, razing everything in their path.

He was close - this close - to retrieving and using this coveted device. A lifetime of training and power got him to touch it - and then rejected by his very goal. Every setback before - even the ultimate setback to befall us all, sooner or later, death - was a minor setback - a negligible inconvenience, an annoyance in comparison to this most humiliating failure.

 

I'll be adding the Chapters in their own replies to the thread - and updating the character list every time. I'd recommend you read the chapters and then the character list - it often spoils something that happened that chapter.

Spoiler: CHARACTER LIST

Sora, the Omen:
Sora was responsible for the destruction of Old Hagactyn forty-five years ago, and helped in turning the Pit from its once spry, light place into its current dark, twisted state. He has as of yet unstated regrets, and searches furiously for the Hagactyn Device left behind by the Ancients and its key.
Onin, the Fortuneteller:
Onin is the leader of the Cult of the Red Eye. He is not particularly magically gifted like his colleagues, Ira and Sora, but is able to use his scroll to catch small glimpses of the future. He attained these powers in his youth, though he has aged considerably since. He aids Sora in his search for the Hagactyn Device and its key, and is particularly fascinated by the ruins of the Ancients - one in particular, around the Pit and Korich, known as Infi's Gate.
Ira, the Curse:
Ira is in many ways the leader of the Order of Three (herself, Onin, and Sora), and her motives are known to only a few. She has a sister who lives in the Gray Kingdom. She is theorized to be divine in some way, as her life stretches back hundreds of years, far outstripping anyone else - except her sister.
Ira's Sister:
Ira's sister is also thought to be divine. She is a highly enigmatic and peculiar figure - largely thought to be a creation of myth. Little is known about her.

Spoiler: Chapter I: Sora, the Omen of Grim Fate

Sora thought back on his many regrets. He figured once he had reached his prize - the device he learned of countless decades ago, and touched not but forty-five of those years ago at the destruction of Hagactyn. Amongst his regrets was the destruction of Korich and the death that ensued. He had ensured his order lived in the Pit - it was a reminder for him never to fail nor falter again. Every living thing had, at some point or another, been affected by him - most for the worse. He was at the base of a ridge in the Pit. He had to attend the next meeting sooner or later. He turned to face the small cliff, and found a number of handholds in the form of roots that oozed a magenta sap. He was reminisced of the day he brought certain doom to this region. He was not aware of everyone who was there - to this day, he kept count of every child that had died that day: twenty thousand, four hundred and eighty-seven. He kept going not despite these regrets, but because of them. He had noticed many years ago that time was more subjective than you’d think. He had found the work of the famous poet Najomi Kosaar who had remarked in one of her unfinished works that “causality waits to hear life’s plea / freedom awaits if they hold the key”. She seemed to have gone mad and killed herself months after writing those two lines.

He again turned his mind to the task at hand. It was only a couple feet up to the base of the church - there were two other sites of worship nearby. Now of course, they were in disarray and ruin. He grabbed hold of the high-up handhold, and leaped up, tapping into some measure of his vast power in magic. The church had a large, expansive interior, more like a cathedral, with a central ‘mast’ at the front, made of carved stone. It was no issue for him - again, tapping into his vast power, he bent down the pillar of stone that adorned the front of the cathedral like a bent branch, keeping its form, but becoming like elastic stone. He hopped onto the stone-branch-mast, and it slowly acquiesced back to its default form. He found himself standing hundreds of meters off the ground. Here he could soak in the view - a crimson-tinted sky. Geysers. Dragon’s blood trees. Stacks of skeletons reaching into what seemed to be the ionosphere. Mass graves unearthed. Corrupted fauna. Cracks in the ground. Intense heat. Splinters of wood strewn across the cracked, dry plains. Dead plants. If hell does exist, what used to be Korich would be it. He was there - Sora, the Omen - and waited for the others to come: Ira, the Curse, and Onin, the Fortuneteller. To his right appeared Onin, dressed in his typical cumbersome attire. His robes were adorned with simplistic symbols. It was bright red, with a black border. The black border had belts of concentric gold circles to adorn it. His hair was long and swayed openly in the harsh wind. He sat atop the ruins of an obelisk. In his lap was the Scroll of Fortunes. To his right flew in Ira, the Curse. She appeared to walk on air - and that, she did. Ira began:

“Sora. Any leads on the key?” she asked.

“Yes. A heavily armed retinue recently escorted a caravan of scholars and… unlisted artifacts from Alkoreai to Auta. It’s possible - perhaps likely - that the key is in there somewhere. I’ve made arrangements to visit Auta soon.” he responded.

“Good. Onin, I assume there’s progress on the Gates?” Ira asked, turning to face Onin.

“Yes. By sundown tomorrow, the cult should be at Infi’s Gates.” He said, assured in his victory.

“Tomorrow? That’s two days behind schedule,” she said worryingly “At least tell me something appeared in the scroll.”

“My apologies, and yes. The scroll wrote two more lines: “When dawn comes knocking Fire’s Woe / Buried heart’s warmth melt down frosted snow”. I have yet to fully interpret them, however, I-” Onin said, before being cut off by his peer Sora:

“I know what it means. Fire’s Woe is in the Wind Islands, where they border the eastern mountains.. I understand the last line: Buried heart’s warmth melt down frosted snow. I’m changing the plan: I’ll go to Fire’s Woe, and afterwards stop in Auta to investigate the Key. Onin, continue working on Infi’s Gate. Send me more lines as they make themselves known to you.” he said hurriedly, excited.

“Alright,” Ira said in her commanding, echo-y voice, “I’ll continue searching for information. It may well be time to give sister of mine a visit.”

“Oh, hooray- Wait, you’re serious? The Gray Kingdom is suicide. Even for someone of your… nature, its a terrible idea at best and suicide at worst.” Onin said, understanding full well what she meant by ‘sister of mine’. He had visited the Lake and Tree of Worlds once before… it left him with scars both mental and physical.

“Well then. If we all know our tasks, then this meeting should be adjourned. I’ll travel to Fire’s Woe and Auta. Onin, continue on your current track to Infi’s Gate. Ira, travel to the Gray Kingdom.” said Sora.

“Indeed.” Onin said.

“Indeed.” Ira said.

Onin, Ira, and Sora grasped onto the identical amulets they each had. Their bodies began to implode into a single point in space - moving through space instantaneously using portal-strength amulets.